The Odyssey Has Already Broken a 2026 Box Office Record After Just One Day
A recurring theme at the box office this summer has been major studio tentpoles underperforming. While indie horror films like Obsession and Backrooms reigned supreme, the likes of The Mandalorian and Grogu, Masters of the Universe, Supergirl, and Moana disappointed to varying degrees. The only traditional, high-profile “summer movie” that’s performed in line with expectations so far is Pixar’s Toy Story 5, which is well on its way to crossing $1 billion worldwide. Even the typically reliable Minions fell short of projections over Fourth of July, though Minions & Monsters will still be profitable. Theater owners everywhere were hoping the arrival of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey could give the summer box office a shot in the arm, and indeed it has.
According to Deadline, The Odyssey earned $17.6 million domestically from preview screenings that took place on Thursday, July 16th. That narrowly edges out Toy Story 5 ($17.5 million) for the highest-grossing previews number of the year so far. It’s the third-best in Nolan’s storied career, coming below only his last two Batman films, The Dark Knight ($18.5 million) and The Dark Knight Rises ($30.6 million). As a point of comparison, Oppenheimer made $10.5 million from its preview screenings in 2023.
The Odyssey Reverses a Troubling 2026 Box Office Trend
As great as it is to see something like Obsession catch on and put together an unprecedented theatrical run, it was still concerning that so many big-budget movies were falling short this summer. Studios need these films to perform well at the box office; a hit blockbuster can help cover the costs for a smaller, mid-budget film. That’s why these projects are considered “tentpoles.” In a perfect world, they prop up a studio’s film slate by bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide (maybe even $1 billion if things break the right way). Granted, there are other revenue streams available for studios to make money off a film (merchandising, home media sales, streaming rights), but box office remains one of the more important cogs in the Hollywood machine. Turning a profit at the box office means everything else is gravy.
Instead of studios celebrating massive returns over the past couple of months, there’s been more talk about a possibly uneasy future for the DC Universe and whether or not Disney’s live-action remake strategy is still viable. That’s what makes The Odyssey such a big event for movie theaters. Nolan’s fantasy epic is on track to become one of the biggest hits of the year, illustrating that audiences are still very much interested in the big-budget cinematic experience. With films like The Odyssey and Project Hail Mary being draws, the message moviegoers appear to be sending is they want more blockbuster-esque films that feel like the unique product of a director’s singular vision as opposed to more standard, generic genre fare.
The Odyssey scoring the year’s highest preview gross is an impressive accomplishment since it’s an R-rated, three-hour epic. In most cases, both the rating and the run time could be considered detriments to box office prospects. Typically, the R rating limits a film’s potential audience and a longer run time limits the number of daily screenings a theater can book. However, a new Christopher Nolan film is not your typical case. He is one of the few auteurs working today whose name is a massive draw regardless of subject matter. People will turn up whether he’s making a movie about Batman or the creation of the atomic bomb. Anticipation for The Odyssey has been high for quite some time; tickets for IMAX screenings went on sale a full year in advance and quickly sold out, illustrating the interest to see this on the biggest of screens. The Odyssey felt like a true event in the way few other movies have this summer.
Barring something unforeseen, The Odyssey should post Nolan’s biggest opening weekend since the director’s time in Gotham City. Oppenheimer (which, as you may recall, opened on the same day as Barbie) grossed $82.4 million domestically in its first weekend. The Odyssey‘s preview number is much higher than Oppenheimer, so we could be looking at a debut that approaches $100 million or more. There is no other major release a la Barbie premiering this weekend, so The Odyssey is the main attraction.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
